August 2017

Buying to rent: tips from a seasoned real estate investor

Buying to rent is a way to ride out the ups and downs of the real estate market and the economy, said Ann Kaplan, president and CEO of national consumer finance company iFinance Canada. (Kaplan also appeared on The Real Housewives of Toronto, a show run by Slice, one of the brands owned by Corus Entertainment, which also owns Global Television and Global News.) Kaplan, who gradually built a portfolio of seven residential and commercial properties in Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto, has some advice for those buying investment properties as a means to enter the market:

Decide what price you want to pay and be prepared to walk away if you don’t get it. When you’re buying investment property,

Canadians facing ever increasing house prices — and debt — are turning to short-term rentals to make ends meet, according to a new survey.

AltusGroup, which provides real estate research, said its FIRM survey from the summer of 2016 found four per cent of all households had used a short-term rental accommodation service in the past year. The number rises to seven per cent for those with a mortgage.

“There has been a lot of speculation lately about potential investor involvement in short-term accommodation rental services like Airbnb,” said Altus in its release. “But focusing on households rather investors, how extensive is the practice of short-term rentals of space in principal residences?”